“Jo gives such constructive and considered feedback in her assessments, helping authors realise the potential of their manuscripts through her strong grasp of both the big picture and the finer details. I am so grateful for her thoughtful and professional assessment service, which helped me rework my manuscript into a state that was ready for submission. It has since been accepted for publication!”

– Penny Harrison, writer, book reviewer,

“Jo’s assessments of Unpublished Picture Book Manuscripts were thoughtful, insightful and detailed, encouraging each creator to think outside the square and push themselves higher.”

“Jo's services are first class. An experienced and astute editor, she has a deep understanding of her clients' needs and provides guidance with care and respect”

– AJ Collins, professional writer and editor,

“Jo is an experienced editor with an excellent eye for identifying what’s working and what isn’t. Whether your work is fiction or non-fiction, genre or corporate, Jo has a knack for elucidating big picture issues, and an ability to suggest structural modifications that will help you to make your work shine. I thoroughly recommend her. ”

– Melissa Catherine Manning,

“Jo is the go-to copy editor and proofreader for Writers Victoria’s bi-monthly magazine, ‘The Victorian Writer’. I have worked with Jo for two years and found her to be a skilled, versatile and discerning editorial specialist who is accustomed to dealing with nuanced work. ”

– Emma Cayley,

Assessment Reports and Developmental Editing

Structural Assessments and Developmental Editing

What is involved in a Structural Assessment/Manuscript Assessment Report?

I read your complete novel and then provide a detailed report on the following aspects of your narrative:

Narrative Structure: This includes a discussion of the extent to which you include classic narrative points (the ordinary world/ Inciting incident/ point of no return/ various story climaxes/ denouement etc.) and the success with which you orient the reader, hook them in and propel them safely through the drama.

Plot: Is your plot compelling, believable? Do you maintain the internal logic of your world? This includes a discussion of subplots and how these work as part of the whole.

Setting: Is there a strong sense of place? How do you achieve this? Is there too much description? Not enough?

Characterisation: Are your characters well-developed? Are their actions/words in keeping with their personalities? Are there too few characters? Too many? Does each have a distinct role in pushing your narrative forward?

Dialogue and action: Does each scene, each interchange, advance the narrative or slow it down? Is the dialogue fluid/easily read/clunky? Does dialogue maintain the voice of each character? Can different characters be differentiated through their words/actions?

Point of View: Whose point of view is the entire narrative written in? Do you maintain this POV throughout? What are the strengths/weaknesses in the current POV?

Back Story: Every character has a past, but how much do we need to know? Have you included enough? Too little? Too much?

Transitions: This includes examination of opening and closing lines between chapters, scenes and settings, where applicable.

Narrative tension/pace: What pushes the story forward? What drives the reader to keep turning the pages? What is working and what is not?

Repetition: Do you repeat words/ sentences/information across chapters? What is the purpose of such repetition? Is it beneficial to the narrative?

I relate my comments directly to specific parts of your manuscript.

Clients often spend a considerable amount of time considering the issues raised in the manuscript report and whether they want to cut, add and/or change scenes, characters, settings and timelines, among other things.

What is involved in a Developmental Edit?

This service includes a full manuscript assessment, but it goes much further. In addition to the manuscript assessment, the developmental edit is an extremely time-intensive (and therefore costly) exercise, which requires that I read your entire manuscript and edit every page in detail (through tracked changes). I aim to point out every point at which there might be gaps or inconsistencies in your created world, plot, characters, character actions, motivations, character appearances, timelines and anything else that crops up. I highlight places where the reader needs to know more/ less /something different in order to be safely propelled through your story. Issues of dialogue (how to set it out most effectively, including the use of dialogue tags and action tags, or, in rare cases, no tags) are covered in detail. Transitions between scenes and chapters are particularly scrutinised at this level, as the last thing we want is for a reader to walk away because they get confused.

I do not recommend embarking on this intensive assessment unless the story structure, settings, character and timelines are all well-developed.

Jo Burnell Editing Services

I love to support writers in all their projects. Whether you’re looking for a full manuscript assessment, a light proofread, or something in between, I’m happy to oblige.